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I recently deleted my LinkedIn account after growing sick of the irrelevant messages from recruiters and the mind-numbing, inane posts from the cult of self-pro

I recently deleted my LinkedIn account after growing sick of the irrelevant messages from recruiters and the mind-numbing, inane posts from the cult of self-proclaimed thinkers, influencers, TED luminaries and Elon Musk sympathisers. One of Oleg Vishnepolsky’s golden posts was the final straw. I decided that I didn’t want to be a part of the bullshit and self aggrandisation any more. And why not, since I’d already deleted all of my other social media accounts long ago. I have the email or phone number of everyone I need to be in contact with. I had a chat about this with a friend who himself is a founder of a company and uses LinkedIn to keep track of developments inside his work network. It made me wonder whether I’d done the right thing. Can anyone here who isn’t a recruiter or employer say that it’s worth having a LinkedIn profile?

cyberpunk0 8y ago
LinkedIn is one of the worst data sellers out there. No reason to keep it if you care about privacy
- FartyMcFarter 8y ago
  I'm pondering deleting my account, and that's the kind of thing that would push me over the fence. Do you know any good links about this?
madengr 8y ago
I’d delete my account if I could remember the password. The emails are sent straight to the junk folder.
- delinka 8y ago
  Password recovery, set new password, promptly delete account.
JamesBarney 8y ago
There is definitely value to LinkedIn, for all the obvious reasons. It let's you keep up to date with new jobs, and old colleagues. But you probably already decided that it's not valuable enough to keep you on the platform. Only thing I can add if you ever start your own company it's becomes over an order or magnitude more valuable.
- 0db532a0 8y ago
  Yes that’s what I’m worried about. Too late now, I suppose.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- antonkm 8y ago
  ~20% of my shop's jobs came from LinkedIn 2018. All those jobs landed by me surfing on the couch watching Netflix (senior dev in Sweden). But I use it as hunting grounds. Can't stand how people portray themselves on LinkedIn - so much bullshit going on.
- hodgesrm 8y ago
  I just used it for exactly that purpose today. It's the modern successor to the Rolodex.
lordnacho 8y ago
Actually, one of the reasons I still use LinkedIn is that their algo isn't that great. It keeps throwing up the occasional article that I actually want to read, often because some random person I'm mysteriously connected to liked it. If the algo gets "too good" I find it gets too samey. Also there's some humour to be found when every other person is a "thought leader" but graduated less than 10 years ago. The self-puffery is kinda fun to watch. You can imagine how deflated the person would feel if you met them IRL and started asking proper questions.
- 0db532a0 8y ago
  I wish I could see the humour in it.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  >You can imagine how deflated the person would feel if you met them IRL and started asking proper questions. You could make anyone unhappy by "asking the proper questions," irrespective of what they have in their LinkedIn profile. Doing that is called "being mean."
  - yowlingcat 8y ago
    Who pissed in your coffee today? Perhaps it's my bias living in NYC, but the average denizen here (myself included) finds someone asking proper, honest questions to be the absolute bare minimum to taking that person seriously, not to mention the absolute bare minimum to a whole host of basic human interactions and endeavors: working together, dating, making and sustaining friendships, making art, building a company. Frankly, I find the almost passive aggressive lack of asking proper questions to be a little condescending and mean in and of itself. One of my favorite movies has several themes, but that's one of them. It's name, very interestingly enough, is Mean Girls.
    - skookumchuck 8y ago
      Ironically, asking someone "where are you from?" is now considered a micro-aggression! https://othersociologist.com/2017/07/15/where-are-you-from-racial-microaggressions/ https://othersociologist.com/2017/07/15/where-are-you-from-r...
gaius 8y ago
It's a great barometer. From the people in my feed getting jobs as CISOs I know for example that CISO is one of these bullshit jobs.
aswanson 8y ago
A buddy of mine at got a gig with a 30 percent raise in another state with it. I got off it years ago along with all other social media because I find it intrusive.
UnpossibleJim 8y ago
I mean this in the most genuine way. What is a "Elon Musk sympathiser"?
jjtheblunt 8y ago
The most inane are from the emotional intelligence author, like blatantly obvious nonsense.
halfastack 8y ago
Well, I personally like it to just satisfy my curiosity about what are some of my friends and coworkers up to. Generally, I am quite curious about what is my friend/coworker/ex-coworker/... doing, and I am genuinely happy when someone I know gets promoted, or gets a new job.

cyberpunk0 8y ago

LinkedIn is one of the worst data sellers out there. No reason to keep it if you care about privacy

FartyMcFarter 8y ago
I'm pondering deleting my account, and that's the kind of thing that would push me over the fence. Do you know any good links about this?

madengr 8y ago

I’d delete my account if I could remember the password. The emails are sent straight to the junk folder.

delinka 8y ago
Password recovery, set new password, promptly delete account.

JamesBarney 8y ago

There is definitely value to LinkedIn, for all the obvious reasons. It let's you keep up to date with new jobs, and old colleagues. But you probably already decided that it's not valuable enough to keep you on the platform. Only thing I can add if you ever start your own company it's becomes over an order or magnitude more valuable.

0db532a0 8y ago
Yes that’s what I’m worried about. Too late now, I suppose.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
antonkm 8y ago
~20% of my shop's jobs came from LinkedIn 2018. All those jobs landed by me surfing on the couch watching Netflix (senior dev in Sweden). But I use it as hunting grounds. Can't stand how people portray themselves on LinkedIn - so much bullshit going on.
hodgesrm 8y ago
I just used it for exactly that purpose today. It's the modern successor to the Rolodex.

lordnacho 8y ago

Actually, one of the reasons I still use LinkedIn is that their algo isn't that great. It keeps throwing up the occasional article that I actually want to read, often because some random person I'm mysteriously connected to liked it. If the algo gets "too good" I find it gets too samey. Also there's some humour to be found when every other person is a "thought leader" but graduated less than 10 years ago. The self-puffery is kinda fun to watch. You can imagine how deflated the person would feel if you met them IRL and started asking proper questions.

0db532a0 8y ago
I wish I could see the humour in it.
whatshisface 8y ago
>You can imagine how deflated the person would feel if you met them IRL and started asking proper questions. You could make anyone unhappy by "asking the proper questions," irrespective of what they have in their LinkedIn profile. Doing that is called "being mean."
- yowlingcat 8y ago
  Who pissed in your coffee today? Perhaps it's my bias living in NYC, but the average denizen here (myself included) finds someone asking proper, honest questions to be the absolute bare minimum to taking that person seriously, not to mention the absolute bare minimum to a whole host of basic human interactions and endeavors: working together, dating, making and sustaining friendships, making art, building a company. Frankly, I find the almost passive aggressive lack of asking proper questions to be a little condescending and mean in and of itself. One of my favorite movies has several themes, but that's one of them. It's name, very interestingly enough, is Mean Girls.
  - skookumchuck 8y ago
    Ironically, asking someone "where are you from?" is now considered a micro-aggression! https://othersociologist.com/2017/07/15/where-are-you-from-racial-microaggressions/ https://othersociologist.com/2017/07/15/where-are-you-from-r...

gaius 8y ago

It's a great barometer. From the people in my feed getting jobs as CISOs I know for example that CISO is one of these bullshit jobs.

aswanson 8y ago

A buddy of mine at got a gig with a 30 percent raise in another state with it. I got off it years ago along with all other social media because I find it intrusive.

UnpossibleJim 8y ago

I mean this in the most genuine way. What is a "Elon Musk sympathiser"?

jjtheblunt 8y ago

The most inane are from the emotional intelligence author, like blatantly obvious nonsense.

halfastack 8y ago

Well, I personally like it to just satisfy my curiosity about what are some of my friends and coworkers up to. Generally, I am quite curious about what is my friend/coworker/ex-coworker/... doing, and I am genuinely happy when someone I know gets promoted, or gets a new job.